Lend some hands to the suffering Women in Afghanistan!

Government has a big impact on how women act. Women in Afghanistan are under great pressure because of government, especially with the Taliban. Before the Taliban invaded Afghanistan, 70% of the women were school teachers, 50% of the civilians in the government workforce were women, 50% female students at Kabul University and 40% female doctors in Kabul. Kabul is the main city in Afghanistan. When the Taliban took control, they controlled 90 percent of the country.

With Taliban taking over the country, they banned women from doing many things and took a lot of their rights away. Women in Afghanistan can usually go to work and go to school to get their education but once the Taliban took control, everything was taken away from them. There is no longer work, school or freedom. They are being controlled.  Based on the Taliban rules, women are not allowed to be seen or heard. Their windows are all painted, and they have to be fully covered before going out into public which in their country are called the Burqa. Even by showing a bit of skin, they can be beaten with harsh weapons. By showing a tiny bit of ankle can get them in trouble. The type of shoes they wear also make a difference. They could no longer wear shoes that make noises. If their skin is showing and their shoes are noisy, they would be beaten. Not only that, but before heading outside in public, they need a close male relatives with them. They can’t go outside by themselves. If they are caught talking to another male beside their male relative, they are punished with harsh punishment such as jails or physical harm. If women were inside a taxi with a male driver, the male drives will be badly beaten.

For women in Afghanistan, not only are their clothings and appearance changed, but their life is at its turning point and it can be changed dramatically. Men will be shipped to fight or even to jail because of something that was not considered a crime by normal people. Women are banned to do many things and without the male to work, they are left with nothing but starvation and poverty. Usually, women work and the income they earn goes to their family but because they are banned from working, the family now is depended on a lot less. Additionally, men from the family can be ship off to work and that leaves the whole family to be in no support. Some family are desperate enough to ship their children to beg for food. Knowing that the rate of death because of starvation is increasing, the government still did not take any action to stop it but instead add to it with the closure of women-run bakeries which is a major source of food to the poor leaving more and more family to fall into poverty and starvation.

Illnesses are also a concern for the women in Afghanistan. Some women work in the hospital and because they are supposed to be separated from men, they can no longer work in the hospital. Women patients are not allowed to be seen by male doctors because it is forbidden so women basically have no medical care provided to them at all. There has been a large increased in infant and maternal mortality and deaths that can be treated with proper medications. Female surgeon finds it impossible to work under the Barga. Female doctors who work outside has said that depression is the female’s biggest enemy. Doctors have said that many are going to the clinic for depression but most are for medication but medication is running out in Afghanistan. The rate of suicide’s case had also dramatically increased. Some were brave enough to flee from Afghanistan. 75% of the estimated 7.5 million Afghan refugees are women and girls. The pressure of government and the government itself are ruining the life of the women in their country.

In the book The dressmaker of Khair Khana, the main character, Kamila's family are one of those families that suffer from the Taliban government. Her family is made out of many girls and a few males. From the Taliban government, the male has left the family because of security problems leaving the girls at Kabul. They were left at Kabul because  the family discussed that it would be safer for them. In the book, it is proven how much Kamila has suffered and how much she has done for her family. Everyday, she’s risking her life by going outside to get supplies for their sewing business. They don’t have any kind of support so she has to be brave enough. “I can’t be scared, I am doing this for my family” Kamila has given so much. Her love and passion for teaching is incredible but for her family, she’s willing to give things up including her life. She will always need to cover herself and her health is getting worse because of the amount of work she has to do to support her family. Government has really ruined things for her because their family fell right into poverty and women have no rights at all. With that, she tried to make the most out of it and protect her family which is something very amazing. She’s risking everything she has for one purpose, her family.

This is an important issue that’s happening worldwide. Many women don’t have work and many families are living under poverty. People who have many things like us can make a change in someone’s life. It’s up to us to make a change and to make them make the most out of their lives while they have the chance. Some of the things we can do is :

• Raise Awareness
• Spread the awareness around
• Fundraiser to raise money and send it to Afghanistan
• Donate educational things such as books, dictionary so they can learn
• Donate daily supplies that can help them

The tiniest thing we do can make a difference. The only way we can help make this world better is by making change and we have to make the first move! We have to take baby steps to reach the final goal.